Vancouver Honours: Beatty Mural, South Cenotaph

Poppies at the Beatty Mural

Just minutes away on foot from Victory Square is the Beatty Street Mural, highlighting historical events and figures in the city’s history, beginning with the presence of First Nations, to Captain Vancouver sailing into the bay and meeting their Spanish navy counterparts, to aspirations of constructing a green “city of destiny”. A section of the mural shows painted images including poppies in remembrance of the fallen during two world wars of the 20th-century. The mural is located just steps from the north entrance of the Stadium-Chinatown SkyTrain station.

South Vancouver’s Cenotaph

Many may not be aware of another cenotaph in the former city of South Vancouver.

Opened in 1926 in the original municipality of South Vancouver, Memorial South Park was known initially as Wilson Park, and was designed to commemorate deceased soldiers in World War I. South Vancouver was amalgamated into the City of Vancouver in 1929, and Vancouver’s first Cenotaph, erected in 1926 at the former South Vancouver Municipal Hall, was moved to this park and rededicated in 1939. The cenotaph is located at the end of a tree-lined avenue as gateway into the park, standing modestly with little extra decoration. The inscription on the memorial reads: “To the memory of the men and women who served in the defense of their country”.

The park is located a few streets east from the intersection of East 41st Avenue and Fraser Street. With public transit from downtown Vancouver, take the SkyTrain’s Canada Line to Oakridge-41st Avenue station, before transferring onto an eastbound 41 bus (destination Joyce-Collingwood station).

With my 4th-generation iPodTouch (and Instagram), I made the photos above at the Beatty Street Mural on 15 October and 5 November 2013; and at Memorial South Park on 19 September 2013. This post appears on Fotoeins Fotopress at fotoeins.com.

2 Responses to “Vancouver Honours: Beatty Mural, South Cenotaph”

Hallo, Tiffany. As you might guess, showing the location is not a new idea; I got the idea after reading a friend’s blog. Adding location isn’t a lot of extra work, and it provides some really useful information in case the reader wants to seek out the same location. I also love maps, so that helps as well! Thanks again for reading and your comment!